Overview

Byrd: My Ladye Nevells Booke

My Ladye Nevells Booke is a collection of 42 keyboard pieces by William Byrd presented to the titular noblewoman who may have been a student of the composer. The music was for the most part already extant, but Byrd was involved in its selection and compilation, and it is in many ways a fascinating overview of his thinking about the keyboard. Nevertheless, recordings of the full cycle, which runs almost four hours in performance, have been sparse; in addition to the complete Byrd keyboard recording by Davitt Moroney there has until now been only a set by veteran British harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood. Thus this top-notch version by American harpsichordist Elizabeth Farr is especially welcome. Farr's style is sober and rich, which tends to match the book's contents -- My Ladye Nevells Booke is inclined toward the solid and ambitious pavans, grounds, and fantasies of Byrd, with only the galliards paired with most of the pavans offering a more sprightly mood. (The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book shows a more festive side of this essentially serious composer.) She does not, however, dampen the one real crowd-pleaser in the collection, the very early piece of program music called "The Battell"; her rendering of Byrd's subtle depiction of the differing gaits of footmen and horses is entertaining. The instruments used are unusual and will be a major attraction of the release for some buyers; they were made by Manchester, MI, builder Keith Hill, and all have a big sound that fits Farr's style perfectly. One is a celebrated Italian instrument from 1658 that Hill restored; two are copies of Flemish instruments from half a century after Byrd's time; and one is the instrument later called a lautenwerk -- a lute-harpsichord, with a much more intimate sound than the other instruments used. The album was recorded in a hall in the small town of Manchester, near Hill's studio, and the ambiance is superb; small details of both playing and instrumental timbre clearly emerge. This will be an important acquisition for libraries, keyboardists, and English music enthusiasts.